(Image – Diesel 2018) If you’re looking for a knock-off version of your favourite branded luxury designer item Canal Street has long been the place to visit in New York. With its small shops, hidden back rooms and “bargain” pricing it has been the go to destination for cost conscious fashion fans who want…

Four months and counting… The GDPR comes into force on 25 May. Widely publicised as one of the biggest legal shake-ups in years, many businesses are understandably apprehensive about how the regulation will be implemented and, more importantly, how they can ensure that they are compliant. The overarching requirement of the regulation is that the…

Poundland announced in June 2017 its intentions to release a mountain-inspired chocolate bar, Twin Peaks, by December. However, the product’s release was halted after it received a legal letter from Mondelez, the legal owners of the Toblerone brand, claiming trade mark infringement for the overall shape of the bar, the pyramid-shaped chocolate peaks, the prism-shaped…

The UK Court of Appeal recently handed down judgment in Caspian Pizza and ors. v Shah and ors. [2017] EWCA Civ 1874, which has taken another look at whether someone with a valid ‘locality’ defence to trade mark infringement has sufficient right to invalidate the trade mark asserted against it. Background and first instance The…

Have you ever worked on a commercial project with a friend, colleague or even a lover? When it was finished, were you clear on who owned the creative output? The reason I ask is that it’s often the case that this issue is a little fuzzy, particularly when it comes to copyright. Now don’t get…

UK IPO introduces cartoon series aimed at young children The UK Intellectual Property Office have released a new series of cartoons aimed at kids as young as seven years old to help them understand the issues surrounding intellectual property and infringement. Using the industry area most subject to copying, the campaign follows the story of…

Infamous drug lord Pablo Escobar’s is no longer with us. His brother Roberto Escobar, however, is alive and kicking and has been giving the runaround to the producers of “Narcos” (the popular Netflix drama and video game based on Pablo Escobar’s escapades). Roberto Escobar has been vocal about his dislike of the Netflix drama, claiming…

Spotify has been at the forefront of providing a new way to instantly listen to (or rather stream) new songs released by your favourite artists and its model of providing free streaming services with adverts (which cannot be listened to offline) or monthly subscription streaming services (which do not have adverts and can be listened…

Intellectual property (or “IP”) can be a complicated area. As a start-up you already have a huge number of things to think about: funding, marketing, building a client base, collaboration, finding the right people to assist you. IP is often just seen as another thing to add to the list, but we understand that it’s…

Sebastian Tomczak, a musician based in Australia, was hit with five copyright claims after he uploaded a white noise recording to YouTube. The 10 hour long video consisting of continuous, indistinct electronic hissing, often used as a method of sleep therapy, was identified by YouTube’s algorithm as a close match to existing content on the…

Photo credit – Archilos First ciggies, now sugar. The smokers amongst you will have noticed that this year in the UK saw a significant change to cigarette packaging laws. From May 2017, cigarette companies were not permitted to use their logos or brand colours on their packaging – all cigarette and tobacco product packets…

Deal or no deal, if you have an EU trade mark you’re naturally going to be wondering what happens to it after the UK leaves the EU… In the first few weeks after the Brexit vote this issue was considered by many IP practitioners and it was generally thought that there would be some sort…